• AT&T says it will pay a $1,000 bonus to more than 200,000 US employees after the Republican tax bill is enacted.
  • The bill cuts corporate tax rates to 21% from 35%.
  • Meanwhile, AT&T has feuded with the Trump administration over its bid to acquire Time Warner, and the Department of Justice has sued to block the deal.

AT&T says it will pay a $1,000 bonus to more than 200,000 US employees after the GOP tax bill is enacted – an announcement sure to please Republican lawmakers who have been pitching corporate tax cuts as a boost for American workers.

The bill, which Congress passed this week, reduces the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% while allowing a one-time repatriation of overseas cash. Companies are mostly expected to buy back stock or pay down debt with their savings.

Still, AT&T was quick to announce its plan after the House voted to pass the bill on Wednesday.

“Once tax reform is signed into law, AT&T plans to invest an additional $1 billion in the United States in 2018 and pay a special $1,000 bonus to more than 200,000 AT&T US employees – all union-represented, non-management and front-line managers,” the company said in a press release. “If the president signs the bill before Christmas, employees will receive the bonus over the holidays.”

At an event at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump called AT&T's plan "pretty good."

Last month, Stephenson blasted the Department of Justice over its plans to sue to block his company's $84.5 billion takeover of Time Warner. At the time, Stephenson called the lawsuit "unprecedented" and said it "defies logic."

Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump blasted the AT&T-Time Warner merger, saying, "Deals like this destroy democracy." More recently, the president said he "always felt that was a deal that's not good for the country."

Shares of AT&T were up 1.16% on Wednesday, to $38.49. Time Warner was up about 0.5%.

AT&T isn't alone in touting its plans to spend a portion of its windfall on workers - Boeing and Fifth-Third Bank have also released plans. Boeing announced what it described as a $300 million "employee-related and charitable investment" stemming from the tax bill, while Fifth Third said it would raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour and distribute a one-time bonus of $1,000 for more than 13,500 employees.